Bangladesh wants rebuilding houses, villages in Rakhine State for voluntary return of Rohingyas

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali has discussed with the new Myanmar ambassador in Dhaka the process of repatriation of Rohingyas and emphasised on the implementation of the bilateral agreements on the refugee return smoothly.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 25 Feb 2018, 05:29 PM
Updated : 25 Feb 2018, 06:13 PM

In this regard, the foreign ministry said he particularly stressed on the need for rebuilding houses and villages in the Rakhine State involving international partners to pave the way for voluntary repatriation.

Ambassador Lwin Oo informed the foreign minister that Myanmar Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population are working on the list of 8032 Myanmar residents handed over by Bangladesh during the visit of Myanmar Minister of  Home Affairs from Feb 15 to Feb 17.

The newly-appointed ambassador met Mahmood Ali at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday.

 The foreign minister welcomed him to Bangladesh and expressed hoped that he would work for further consolidating the bilateral cooperation between Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Mahmood Ali proposed Myanmar to send more students in reputed Bangladeshi Universities including the Asian University for Women in Chittagong.

He opined that Bangladesh and Myanmar could enhance cooperation in the areas of agriculture, disaster management and education.

The ambassador also appreciated Bangladesh’s sustained economic growth and level of development that Bangladesh achieved under the present government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the foreign ministry said.

He informed the foreign minister about Myanmar’s desire to strengthen bilateral relations with Bangladesh.

He highlighted on recent enhanced engagement and exchange of visits between Bangladesh and Myanmar and also the conclusion of a number of bilateral agreements and instruments in the last few months.

In this connection, the ambassador appreciated Bangladesh’s donation of three Ambulances for the Hospitals of Rakhine State and contribution of around $5 million for building Cyclone Shelters in the Rakhine State.

The foreign minister assured the ambassador of full cooperation in discharging his duties during his tenure in Bangladesh.